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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · race · tear · trunk · net · season · chip · dip

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. net — in sport
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. field — a subject
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. race — the arms race
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. chip — to eat
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. dip — to sink
  11. tear — from crying
  12. season — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — humankind
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. tear — to rip
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. season — of the year
  20. field — for sport
  21. chip — for betting
  22. net — for catching
  23. tear — from crying
  24. dip — to dunk

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com